Phil Ramone dies Music producer and Innovator
| Phil Ramone |
His collaboration credits are a Who's Who of the music industry: Burt Bacharach, Bono, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder, just to name a few.
"Our industry has lost an immense talent and a true visionary and genius," said Neil Portnow, president of The Recording Academy, which had given him a Technical Grammy for his lifetime of innovative contributions to music.
Artists described Ramone, 72, with superlatives.
"This is so shocking. I just performed for his tribute in December," Aretha Franklin said in a statment. "Truly one of the great names in music has gone on, but the melodies will remain."
Said Billy Joel: "I always thought of Phil Ramone as the most talented guy in my band.... The music world lost a giant today."
Ramone made innovations to the compact discs and surround sound technologies, Portnow said.
He worked across all genres of music, and he also served as chair of the board of trustees of The Recording Academy. At the time of his death, he was a board member of the Grammy Museum.
Ramone's collaboration with Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon won a total of three Album Of The Year awards, and Ramone won Producer Of The Year (Non Classical) in 1980, The Recording Academy said.
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